The Two-Way

7:25 pm

Fri May 17, 2013

Injuries Reported In 'Major' Train Derailment In Connecticut

Two Metro-North Railroad trains have collided on a stretch of track near Fairfield, Conn., causing a "major derailment" and "preliminary reports of injuries," according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

[Update at 8:55 p.m. ET: The Associated Press quotes Connecticut officials as saying about 50 people have been hurt, four of them seriously.]

"A Metro-North commuter train derailed Friday night and hit a train heading in the opposite direction near the Fairfield-Bridgeport border, and there are preliminary reports of injuries, an MTA official said.

"At about 6:10 p.m. an eastbound train, the 4:41 p.m. train out of New Haven, derailed just east of the Fairfield metro station, said Marjorie Anders, an MTA spokeswoman. It then hit the side of a westbound train on the adjacent track.

"Emergency personnel are on scene and there are preliminary reports of injuries, she said."

Connecticut Post reporter Denis O'Malley spoke to NPR from the scene. He said injuries included one person with serious back injury and another with a neck injury.

Update at 8:20 p.m. ET: No Known Life-Threatening Injuries:

Reuters quotes Fairfield police spokesman Matt Panilaitis as saying none of those involved in the accident were believed to be suffering from life-threatening injuries.

The news agency also quotes Dianne Auger, a spokeswoman for St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, as saying nine people were taken to the hospital as a result of the accident and one was listed in serious condition with head injuries.

The cause of the derailment was not immediately known, Reuters says.

According to The Associated Press:

"The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed."